wildbill@ucbvax.ARPA (William J. Laubenheimer) (02/05/85)
>Unfortunately, I must comment about Integral_ Trees that while I DID >enjoy it a good deal, it was not up to the usual Niven story. The >characters were not solving a puzzle, or dealing with any difficulty. >Rather, they were tossed about on the winds of fate, and given almost no >control of their destiny. The story was mainly an exploration of the >Smoke Ring, showing the reading how diverse and fascinating this place >is. >So, while I highly recommend it (as I said, it is great fun...it truly is >a strange new world the reader gets to see), I do not feel that it is up to >the standards set by other works from Niven. I hope that the sequel presents >a more interesting 'story', now that the world has been at least partially >explored. I recently got \\The Integral Trees// myself. I have the same complaint: the environment is very interesting, but it all seems quite unmotivated. Although careful attention was given to the physical evolution of humans, the aspects of social evolution were barely considered. As a result, the book seems to me to be the equivalent of a travelogue with impressive cinematography applied to marvelous scenery -- but not a person in sight. This reinforces an oft-stated assertion of critics that the best stories are stories about people. This is precisely where \\The Integral Trees// fails: the environment overshadows the people who live in it. >Query: What is this new collection of short stories from Niven? Are > these new stories? > -Andy Gideon You must be talking about \\Limits//. Mine arrived yesterday. A perusal of the table of contents reveals three stories and a short-short by Niven alone, three collaborations (one each with Jerry Pournelle, Dian Girard, and Steve Barnes), plus five more tales from the Draco Tavern. This last group includes the title story. According to the introduction, only the Draco stories appear to be completely new. The other stories have appeared in such places as \\Omni//, \\Amazing//, and various story collections. In the latter group are two stories set in the Warlock universe, which are collected in \\More Magic//. This would appear to be a collection of previously uncollected Warlock stories, but I haven't seen it yet. Niven says the stories "have appeared", but adds that the book is "three years overdue". The collection is definitely worth getting. Bill Laubenheimer ----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science ...Killjoy went that-a-way---> ucbvax!wildbill